Simpson College
Iowa Private College Week
Workshops
Problem-Based Learning in Action
Monday, August 1, 10 am – noon, Carver 233
In Problem-Based Learning student learning centers around a real, authentic problem. It is an applied method placing responsibility with the students. Results of initial implementation of problem-based learning in two dissimilar disciplines will be shared. Best practices will be covered relating to both the planning and implementation of this pedagogy within the classroom. Aryn Kruse and Shane Cox will demonstrate the key aspect of successful PBL problem-writing, which is the proper formation of a problem through a two-stage process. Stage one contains the development of an exploration phase, while stage two encourages one to clarify objectives. Participants will develop a PBL model for their respective discipline. This workshop was originally presented by Aryn and Shane at the Lilly Conference on Evidence-Based Teaching and Learning in Bethesda, MD on June 3, 2016.
Working with Groups in Scholar
Tuesday, August 2, 10 am to noon, Carver 233
Creating groups in Scholar allows you to
· Have students discuss a topic with a small group rather than with the entire class
· Provide students working on a group project with a private place to discuss their work with each other
· Grade a group’s work once and have the grade automatically be given to all the group members
· In this workshop, Jule Thorsen will teach you how do use groups for the aforementioned purposes. She’ll also demonstrate how to assign specific students to groups and how to have Scholar randomly assign students to groups.
Scholar Helps Me To…
Wednesday, August 3, 10 am to noon, Carver 233
This session will consist of a series of 10-15 minute presentations in which a variety of faculty will share ways in which they use Scholar. Each presenter will explain what he or she asks students to do and why and will then demonstrate how to use Scholar for that purpose. Among other things you’ll learn how Heather Groben has students submit brief reflections about reading assignments before class, how Tracy Dinesen creates practice drills that students need to pass in order to be able to go on and do the next thing in Scholar, how Gabrielle Rose-Curti uses images in Scholar quizzes, and how Sal Meyers gets the Scholar gradebook to ignore quizzes that students can take for practice that shouldn’t impact their grades.
Specifications Grading: Restoring Rigor, Motivating Students, and Saving Faculty Time
Thursday, August 4, 10 am to noon, Carver 233
Are you tired of giving students passing grades for subpar work? Specifications grading offers a way to hold students to a higher standard, increase student performance, and reduce the amount of time faculty spend grading. The idea is to specify for students exactly what they have to do to pass an assignment – and those specifications should describe good work, not C- work -- and then grade that assignment pass/fail. Course grades are determined by identifying which assignments have been passed. These pass/fail assignments can then be bundled into sets associated with earning various different letter grades. Ashley Baker and Sal Meyers read and discussed Nilson’s book Specifications Grading with a handful of other people last spring, and Baker and Sal are eager to share what they’ve learned about specs grading. Participants attending this session will leave with concrete ideas of how they might incorporate specs grading into one of their own courses.
Design Clear Writing Assignments
Friday, August 5, 10 am to noon, Carver 233
Have you ever read a student’s work and wondered, “What was this writer thinking?” Enter the minds of your student writers. Learning to read a writing assignment as students do helps faculty understand how some writing assignments cause writers to become confused about the writing task. The goal of this session is to provide faculty with an opportunity to review clear writing assignments and confusing writing assignments and discuss the characteristics that contribute to clarity and confusion. In this session Beth Beggs will introduce a simple pneumonic device for characteristics of clear writing assignments. Afterward, participants will have access to a digital handout packet including examples of clear writing assignments, confusing writing assignments, and resources for designing clear writing assignments. Instead of wondering what your writers are thinking, give them the tools to produce writing you want to read.